The biggest names in country music are headed to Austin, Texas!
The biggest names in country are headed to the 2023 CMT Music Awards! The awards show has announced a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute that will include Billy Gibbons, Chuck Leavell, Cody Johnson, Paul Rodgers, Slash and Warren Haynes.
The musicians will honor the band and the late original founding member Gary Rossington. LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd will also be joining as the tribute as The Honkettes. The celebration comes 50 years after the launch of the band’s debut album. Dale Krantz Rossington, band member and wife of Rossington, is set to attend the tribute alongside fellow Lynyrd Skynyrd band members Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlock.
This news comes after the show added Alanis Morissette and Gwen Stefani as performers to the star-studded lineup. Morissette will take the stage alongside Ingrid Andress, Lainey Wilson, Madeline Edwards and Morgan Wade, plus Austin native Jackie Venson on guitar, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of CMT's "Next Woman of Country" franchise with a performance of her hit "You Oughta Know.:
Stefani will team up with Carly Pearce for their first-ever on-stage collaboration, two years after winning her first CMT Award with hubby Blake Shelton. The pair took home Collaborative Video of the Year for their duet “Nobody But You.”
Meanwhile, Shania Twain will become the third-ever winner of the CMT Equal Play Award, which recognizes "an artist who is a visible and vocal advocate for elevating diverse and underrepresented voices in country music." Previous winners of the award include Jennifer Nettles and Linda Martell.
The trio joins previously-announced performers Shelton, Pearce, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, co-hosts Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, and more.
A Video of the Year nominee, Shelton recently spoke with ET about why he thinks the CMT Music Awards "means more" than your typical awards show -- and it boils down to the fans.
"Our industry, there’s so many under-the-table political things going on, it’s always nice to win any award, but when you know for sure [that] fans took the time and they voted for you, then that means the world."
"I love being able to be a part of a show like that because I just feel like they have more credibility to me," he added. "Those are the people buying the music, they should have a say in who they give their trophies to!"
On April 2, the 2023 CMT Music Awards will air live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on CBS and stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
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